The media is now convinced that quarterback Deshaun Watson has an outside chance of playing in 2025. They base this on Instagram posts by Watson and an anonymous report that Watson was ahead of schedule in his rehab. I thought this subject had already been discussed. Cleveland beat writer Mary Kay Cabot “suggested” the door wasn’t closed on Watson playing in 2025. This notion was then picked up by Albert Breer of the Monday Morning Quarterback. Just to remind everyone, Watson tore his Achilles tendon on October 20 last season during a game against the Bengals. He then had surgery on October 25 to repair the tendon. This type of injury usually takes a year to heal. In January it was announced he suffered another tear during rehab and had surgery again. To recap, it’s been about four months since his last surgery for an injury that takes at least a year to come back from. He’s not playing in 2025 and I’m of the opinion he’ll not take another snap for the Cleveland Browns.

The Browns front office has a plan to rid themselves of Watson and his absurd contract. Unfortunately, he can’t be cut or traded because of his contract. The team does have injury insurance but the amount for 2024 and 2025 is not known. While player contracts are transparent, insurance policies are not. The speculation is the Browns will receive around $5 million in salary cap credit for games missed in 2024. If Watson doesn’t play in 2025, the rumor is a salary cap credit of around $40 million. The 2024 credit will be added in 2025, and the 2025 credit will be added in 2026. If these numbers are accurate, then this will definitely help the Browns cap situation.

For the 2025 season, Watson will start training camp on the Physically Unable to Perform list (PUP). As of now, he might be ready to toss around a football during rehab, but he won’t be game ready when the season starts. This will transform to some sort of Injured reserve when the season starts, either active (which means he would be edible to return to practice after six weeks) for inactive (for the entire 2025 season). He’ll be on injured reserve for the entire 2025 season. In 2026, if healthy, the team will probably declare him inactive every week, just like the Texans did in 2021. When the league year begins in 2027, Watson will be designated as a June 1 cut and his remaining cap hit will be spread over 2027 and 2028, about $25 million per year. With the salary cap continuing to increase every year and the possibility of a substantial cap credit in 2026 due to injury insurance, the Browns will be able to rid themselves of Watson without hurting their spending power. An interesting side note, according to OverTheCap, Watson’s contract becomes void on February 18, 2028, five days after the Super Bowl.

Those are the numbers, now here’s the logic. The Browns want to rid themselves of the negative atmosphere of Watson. This atmosphere caused defensive end Myles Garrett to ask to be traded and guard Joel Bitonio to consider retirement. Both are returning. Quarterback Joe Flacco had no intention of returning to the Browns due to Watson but resigned as a free agent. To add to the signing of Flacco, the Browns traded for Kenny Pickett and drafted Dillion Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders. Last time I checked that’s four quarterbacks. The team will only carry three on their final 53-man roster. Finally Browns owner Jimmy Haslam has acknowledged the trade and contract was a mistake. He referred to it as “a swing and a miss.” If the man signing the checks considers Watson a miss, then Watson will not play another snap for the Cleveland Browns.